23.03 LLHS FedCon, March 2023

Is Christian Education worth it?

Don’t we all think about that question from time to time?... “Is Christian Education really worth it?” The thought crosses our minds when we feel the fatigue that comes from the sacrifices we sometimes have to make.

“Is it worth it, to drive this extra distance, when the public school is right down the street?”

“Is it worth it, to spend money on high school tuition, when I could be spending it on something else?”

“Is it worth it to go through this extra trouble, this extra effort, to go to a Christians school?” God’s answer is… “Yes.”

Proverbs chapter 9 says: “The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:10). If you want wisdom, if you want understanding (we would call that “education”) then where do you start? You start with the fear of the LORD. Christian education is “worth it” because we start in the right place as we seek answers to life’s big questions. We start with the fear of the LORD. Fear in this passage refers to respect, reverence and awe (and a little bit of healthy fear), as we stand in the presence of an almighty and yet loving God, who made us, who saved us, and who will come again. Humble worship— where we start—is the beginning of wisdom.

Where do I begin when I’m trying to answer, “Who am I?”

“Why am I here?” “What happens after I die?” We begin with… God. And not just any God—his name is the LORD, his special name in the Old Testament, referring to his faithful promise-making and promise-keeping. Ultimately, the LORD refers to Jesus: “and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding.”

If we don’t start with Jesus as we look for wisdom, then where? Well, probably the internet, a collection of the

Girls Basketball June 12-15

Wrestling June 12-15

Boys Basketball June 19-22

Soccer June 26-29

Dance July 10–12

Distance Running July 10-13

Boys Football July 10-13

STEM July 17-20

Girls Volleyball July 24-27

opinions of the world combined with our feelings. If you’ve ever wondered why the world is such a mess, the answer is pretty simple—the world is starting in the wrong place as it tries to answer the big questions of life.

But what if you start with Jesus? He is the beginning of wisdom. That’s where you gain understanding. Christian education is worth it when you remember that Jesus is in the middle of it all, and he blesses us with his forgiveness, his love, and the hope of eternal life. You can’t find that anywhere else. He is the one who makes it worth it.

warrior youth football

for boys, grades 6–8 • August–October • register by April 15

warrior windmill softball

for girls, ages 5–high school • runs May–July | register by March 20

prepside mustangs baseball

Registration already open for U15

U12

U10

plus New in 2023! U9 Jr. PeeWee League

Incoming 9th graders are welcome to join high schools students for the Warrior Summer Speed & Strength program

Keep an eye on llhs.org/apps/pages/summerprograms

lakeside good news E notes

Call News recap at Lakeside

Lutheran in February:

• We’re thrilled to share that Mr. Justin Gut accepted our call to teach upper level science beginning next fall!

• We’re thankful to report that Lakeside Guidance Director Andy Rosenau returned a call he received in January to serve as the Director of Student Services at Wisconsin Lutheran High School.

• On Feb. 8, social studies teacher and coach Mr. Andy Asmus received a call to serve as varsity boys basketball coach and instructor at Luther High School, Onalaska, Wis.

• On Feb. 14, voters issued divine calls to Mrs. Kim Gartner to serve in the Extended Learning Center (after Miss Johnson resigned to marry and move this summer). Mrs. Gartner teaches first grade at St. Paul, Lake Mills. We also called Mr. Craig Sonntag to teach Math and English. He teaches gr. 7-8 at St. Matthew, Janesville.

Ø Late in Jan. we welcomed over 200 7th graders to “Warrior for a Day.” They headed to different classes—religion, art, history, videography, science, tech ed, phy ed, STEM—to see what life is like as an LLHS student. After pizza, they socialized with roller-skating.

Ø February 17-19 we were privileged to host 335 elementary basketball players to our 21st annual A-team Warrior tournament. Hundreds of federation families were on campus to see which of the 18 girls and boys teams persevered to take home trophies!

Ø The very next Monday we welcomed 240 kindergartners plus teachers and parent chaperones to our annual Kinderfest, where Jesus’ little lambs frolicked with FFA sheep, Pastor Yahnke puppets, lazerbeam obstacles and 10 other stations to educate and entertain.

Ø Warrior FFA teens tied fleece blankets for some of our newest wee Warriors babies born to teacher Jason Fry [St. Peter, Helenville], bus driver Wenzell Butler [St. Andrew, Middleton], ELC Director Shelly Coron [St. John, Juneau]

Ø The boys bowling club team qualified for state competition in Weston March 3-5. Congrats to Manuel Iglesias [St. Mark, Watertown], Garret Parkhurst [St. Luke, Watertown], Aaron Hirsch [St. John, Watertown], Caleb Studnicka [Peace, Sun Prairie], Christian Collins [St. Paul, Lake Mills] who also qualified as an individual, Nathan Walker [St. Paul, Fort], Elijah Grow [St. Andrew, Middleton], Caleb Bittorf [St. John, Waterloo], Zach Erickson [St. Paul, Fort].

wrapped up the week with a casual dance Saturday night.

Ø At the end of January, Cyber Safety Consulting founder Liz Repking gave four critical presentations—to our student body, to groups from 10 grade schools, and to parents. She presented real stories of how cyber behavior can forever impact lives, and offered tools to help teens protect themselves On Feb. 15, Lake Mills Resource Officer Jessica Johnson and Detective Ben Miller (LL ‘08) shared important facts and stats about e-cigarettes and vaping, both nicotine and THC and how to talk to teens about it. Both parent presentations are available at livestream.com/llhslive.

Ø The gym was packed with 110 dancers for our K-8 winter pom dance clinic. High school dancers each led groups of 10, coordinating and arranging girls in formations. The K-4th graders learned an Disney Encanto mashup, while girls in gr. 5-8 learned our Unstoppable Warrior Dance routine.

Ø Pops Concert popped the doldrums of winter with contemporary and upbeat music, featuring all bands and choirs, including Jazz and Percussion Ensembles, Swing Choir, plus solo/ensembles. We also hosted our annual grade school Visual Arts Fair featuring 100s of entries from 15 grade schools. Visit llhs.smugmug.com for photos of both events.

Ø Winter Carnival—Feb. 6-10—lived up to its name with a snow day on Thursday! Other days held dress up fun, a National Guard obstacle course, and more. We

Ø On Feb. 6, Warrior Forensics won 1 13th straight conference championship! Coached by Steve Lauber [St. Paul, Lake Mills], they finished with 299 points, 129 points ahead of second place. Placing first in their individual categories were Rose Hissom [St. Matthew, Oconomowoc], in Extemporaneous; Trey Lauber [St. Paul, Lake Mills], in Moments in History; John Loest [St. Stephen, Beaver Dam], and Joseph Metzger [Immanuel, Johnson Creek], in Playacting; Ruby Langille [St. Paul, Lake Mills], in Prose; Elsa Johansson [Zion, Columbus], in Solo Serious; Sophia Starkenburg [Holy Cross, Madison], in Solo Humorous; and Caleb Wensel [St. Paul, Lake Mills], in Special Occasion.

Ø Freshman Colten Schultz [St. John, Juneau] earned a conference championship in wrestling at 170 lbs, the first conference championship for LLHS since 2019! At regionals, Schultz and junior Sam Schmidt, 152 lbs) [Peace, Janesville] advanced to sectionals

Ø Freshman Chloe Barganz [White Stone, Oconomowoc] won a t-shirt design contest for this year’s Fort Atkinson Regional Science Fair!

Ø Junior Ava Stein [St. Paul, Lake Mills] broke the school single-season rebound record on Feb 10. The record had been 232, held by Rachel Maenpaa from 2001.